U.S. Dept. of Veteran’s Affairs:
The Second Thing

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ main purpose is to take care of America’s 22 Million military Veterans after they leave the military with benefits like health care, home loans and pensions. But there’s a problem: 14 million Veterans haven’t applied for their benefits. So, how do we encourage Veterans to apply?

We started with an emotional truth that all Vets share: The First Thing. Every Veteran had the first thing they did when they left the military. They played catch with their son, ate a home cooked meal or just got on a motorcycle and rode, alone.

Then, we created a new thing — our call to action. We call it, “The Second Thing.” The message: Vets, whatever your first thing was when you left the military, make applying for VA benefits The Second Thing.

We interviewed over 300 Veterans to get real first thing stories. Here’s the launch film we created with director Eliot Rausch.

We interviewed each Veteran about the benefits they are currently receiving to create a series of “Second Thing Stories” about the available benefits.

The Second Thing.Gov

TheSecondThing.gov features the films along with tips to help Veterans do The Second Thing and apply for benefits. The goal was to make it look nothing like a government website with modern design, a friendly, easy-to-navigate UX and an authentic, friendly tone.

Print and OOH shot by award winning photojournalist Ron Haviv.

CREDITS:
AGENCY: DDB CHICAGO
CCO: Ewan Paterson
CD/ART DIRECTOR: Alex Zamiar
CD/WRITER: Jonathan Richman
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Scott Kemper
EXECUTIVE DIGITAL PRODUCER: Jon Ellis
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Uber Content
DIRECTOR: Eliot Rausch
PHOTOGRAPHER : Ron Haviv
DIGITAL PRODUCTION COMPANY: Stink Digital

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